SERRANO y DOMINGUEZ, Francisco, Duke de la Torre, Spanish soldier, born at San Fernando, near Cadiz, 17 October, 1810; died in Madrid, 26 November, 1885. He was the son of a Spanish general, entered the military college as a cadet in 1822, and in 1825 became ensign. He served till 1833 in the coast-guard, but after the death of Ferdinand VII, he espoused the cause of the child-queen, Isabella II. He was promoted in 1840 major-general and second chief of the captaincy-general of Valencia, and in 1843 elected to the cortes, of which he became vice-president. He joined in the overthrow of the regency of Espartero on 24 July, and the declaration that Queen Isabella was of age. In November of the same year he was for ten days minister of war, in 1845 he became lieutenant-general and senator, and after tile young queen's marriage in 1846 he obtained such influence over her that a public scandal followed, and he was appointed captain-general of Granada. In order to bring him to Madrid again, the queen appointed him inspector-general of cavalry and captain-general of New Castile; he took part in several short-lived ministries and many military pronunciamientos, and in February, 1854, was exiled for participation in the insurrection of Saragossa. In June he returned to take part in the successful revolution under Espartero and O'Donnell, and in July, 1856, he joined the latter in his successful coup d'elat, and was sent in 1857 as ambassador to Paris. In 1860 he went as captain-general to Cuba, and during his administration the annexation of Santo Domingo to the Spanish crown was brought about. For this, although it cost the nation millions of money and thousands of lives, he was created Duke de la Torte on his return to Spain, and made captain-general of the army. In 1866 he was imprisoned in Allcante for his protest, as president of the senate, against the illegal dissolution of the cortes, and in July, 1868, was exiled to the Canary islands, but on 19 September he landed at Cadiz, and aided in overthrowing the government of Queen Isabella, vanquishing the royal troops at Aleoica on 28 September On 8 October he became chief of the provisional government, and on 16 June, 1869, he was elected regent of the kingdom, which place he occupied till the acceptation of the crown by Prince Amadeo, who in January, 1871, made him prime minister. In 1872 he took the field as commander-in-chief against the Carlists, and, after the proclamation of the republic in 1873, he retired to France. He returned to Spain toward the end of the year, and after the coup d'elat of General Pavia was made chief of the executive, 4 January, 1874. negotiating privately, it is thought, with Martinez Campos the restoration of the monarchy under Alfonso XII. on 9 January, 1875. He continued to take an active part in politics as chief of the right centre, and in 1883 was appointed ambassador of Spain to France. He married a Cuban lady of great beauty, and left a son and two daughters.